Last week, the New York State budget included a major victory for educational equity, ending a 26-year-old ban on access to need-based Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) grants for incarcerated students. Having myself attended college while incarcerated, I can attest to the importance of the… Read More
Highlight: Advocacy and Policy
WBAI’s On the Count – The Prison And Criminal Justice Report
In this episode, listen to an in-depth conversation with Max Kenner '01, alumnus Dyjuan Tatro '18, and Vivian Nixon, Executive Director of College & Community Fellowship who discuss the impact of federal Pell Grant restoration; what's next for TAP restoration in New York; the… Read More
Max Kenner | Coronavirus Is Coming To Prisons
Max Kenner, Executive Director of the Bard Prison Initiative, joins David to discuss what the BPI does, why college-in-prison programs are essential to reducing recidivism and how prisons are adapting and preparing for the coronavirus. The conversation begins with a discussion about the effectiveness of… Read More
Rehabilitation and Education In America’s Prisons
For most incarcerated citizens, prison puts life on hold. You might say that's as it should be. Prison—at least partly—is punishment. But increasingly, policymakers are thinking more seriously about what happens when people get out of prison—and what the best ways are to rehabilitate them, so… Read More
Op-Ed – Access to higher ed for incarcerated students is essential to criminal justice reform
by Darren Mack Opinion Contributor As I walked across the stage this year to graduate with my MSW at Hunter College, I thought about the incarcerated people I’ve left behind — especially those who grew up in any of the seven communities where over 70 percent of… Read More
Documentary to Showcase Education in Prison
The Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference Friday in Washington hosted a panel discussion and preview of a new PBS documentary series that follows incarcerated people who are pursuing college degrees. The four-part series, “College Behind Bars,” was executive produced by Ken Burns and directed… Read More
How to Level the College Playing Field
This time of year, there’s a lot of optimism in the air about college. As acceptance notices come in, it seems like the smartest, hardest-working young people with the greatest potential are being matched to institutions of higher learning that will prepare them for… Read More
Senate Leaders Reconsider Ban on Pell Grants for Prisoners
The Senate’s top education leaders will consider reinstating Pell grants for incarcerated students, a move that would restore a federal lifeline to the nation’s cash-strapped prison education system. Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee and the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee,… Read More
Let Prisoners Learn While They Serve
Criminal justice officials across the country are struggling to break the recidivism cycle in which prisoners are released only to land right back behind bars. These prisoners are among the most poorly educated people in the country, and that fact holds the key to… Read More
NY to spend $7.3M on college-in-prison program
Mercy College, Bard College among colleges participating in joint state-NYC program. Read More